Members of the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament have vowed to resist any attempt by what they described as the overbearing Majority caucus to undermine their leader, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin.
Accordingly, the group has called for the immediate withdrawal of the referral of the Minority Leader to Parliament’s Privileges Committee.
They described the referral as an abuse of power and a violation of parliamentary and constitutional norms.
Addressing the media in Accra on Friday, November 28, 2025, the Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Asokwa, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, descended heavily on Speaker Alban Bagbin and Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, insisting the referral must be rescinded without delay.
She condemned the decision as politically motivated, arguing it is “the most cynical and constitutionally perverse action ever taken in the Fourth Republic.”
The referral, Madam Appiagyei further observed, was designed to punish Osahen Afenyo-Markin for refusing to comply with what she termed an “unconstitutional and internationally unlawful” parliamentary resolution passed on July 22, 2025.
The said resolution was passed to remove the Minority Leader from the ECOWAS Parliament, even though he was duly elected as the Third Deputy Speaker of the sub-regional legislative body.
Unambiguous legal architecture
Madam Appiagyei pointed out that the Speaker and the Majority Leader, by their action, have violated the law.
Article 18.2 of the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/12/16, she pointed out, stipulates that “A Representative shall be elected for a period of four (4) years from the date of the inauguration of the Parliament by the Chairman of Authority. Their mandate shall end on the last day of the legislature.”
Again, Article 18.3 defines the exclusive grounds upon which a Representative’s seat may become vacant: death, written resignation, certified incapacity, resignation due to incompatibility, or removal by the ECOWAS Parliament.
Osahen Afenyo-Markin, the Deputy Minority, noted that, does not fall under any of these categories.
She pointed out clearly that the Minority Leader “has not died, he has not resigned, nor incapacitated. There has been no removal by ECOWAS Parliament.”
Notwithstanding this, she said the Speaker and Majority Leader proceeded to remove Osahen Afenyo-Markin in flagrant violation of binding regional law, which under Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution takes precedence over domestic parliamentary resolutions.
Wrongful invocation of Standing Orders
Madam Appiagyei also averred that Speaker Alban Bagbin and the Majority leadership improperly invoked Standing Orders to justify the removal of Osahen Afenyo-Markin from Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.
Even more worrying, the Minority leader was replaced with his Deputy Madam Appiagyei while he was on medical leave and without consultation with the Minority.
“The moment I became aware of the plot, I wrote immediately to register my disapproval. I never consented to the removal of my Leader,” Madam Appiagyei affirmed, noting that her letters to the Speaker pushing for a reversal were ignored.
According to her, the Speaker ignored her request and transmitted her name as a replacement to the ECOWAS Parliament.
“What we are witnessing is not parliamentary procedure. It is political persecution. It is not the enforcement of Standing Orders. It is the weaponisation of standing orders.
“And it is not about upholding the dignity of Parliament, it is about crushing a fearless opposition leader who has consistently stood between this nation and constitutional anarchy,” Madam Appiagyei bemoaned.
Intimidation, harassment and institutional abuse
The Deputy Minority Leader insisted that Speaker Bagbin’s ruling, referring Minority Leader Osahen Afenyo-Markin to the Privileges Committee, was the culmination of a coordinated campaign of intimidation, harassment, and institutional abuse that began on 22 July 2025.
The Ambush of 22nd July, 2025
Madam Appiagyei again recounted that on Tuesday, 22 July 2025, while the Minority Leader was unwell and receiving treatment, the Majority Leader, Mr Mahama Ayariga, moved stealthily and clandestinely to amend Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation list.
Describing its as “surgical and sinister,” the Majority Leader announced she would replace Osahen Afenyo-Markin.
“Mr Speaker, when it comes to moving the Resolution numbered 19 of this House, I shall move pursuant to our Standing Orders for the amendment of the composition of the delegation so that Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin is removed, and Hon. Patricia Appiagyei is replaced as a member of the delegation…,” she quoted Mr Ayariga as captured in the Hansard of Parliament.
According to her, when objections were raised by the Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh and MP Member for Bimbilla Dominic Nitiwul, the Speaker dismissed them without hesitation.
“We are masters of our own rules. So, the resolution has been taken, and then we will proceed on to the other Business,” the Speaker ruled.
No consultation
Madam Appiagyei insisted she was ambushed, without consultation or consent, into an illegal plot to remove her leader from Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament.
“Respectfully, I wish to place on record that I was neither consulted nor did I give my consent to be considered as a replacement for the Minority Leader. At no point have I expressed any intention to replace my leader, and I am particularly concerned that this development appears to be a calculated effort to cause division between me and my leader.
“Let me be abundantly clear: I protested, I objected, I refused, and I was ignored,” Madam Appiagyei emphasised.
This action, she pointed out, triggered diplomatic concern, as on September 8, 2025, ECOWAS Speaker Memounatou Ibrahima dispatched a parliamentary diplomacy mission to Accra, citing violations of Article 18 of the Supplementary Act governing membership of the regional legislature.
“ECOWAS had to remind Ghana of the meaning of the rule of law. This was an embarrassment engineered by the Speaker and the Majority Leader,” she said.
No contempt of Parliament
Madam Appiagyei maintained that Osahen Afenyo-Markin’s refusal to step aside was not contempt of Parliament but a constitutional duty to resist unlawful directives under Articles 1, 3, and 41 of the 1992 Constitution.
“The Minority Leader was not defying Parliament; he was defending Ghana’s constitutional order,” she reiterated.
She further noted that the Privileges Committee referral, submitted by Mahama Ayariga a day after the Minority blocked a controversial Chief Justice nominee, was retaliatory and aimed at silencing the Caucus.
Minority’s demands
The Minority outlined several demands, including the immediate retraction of the Privileges Committee petition, a formal apology from the Speaker and the Majority Leader to ECOWAS and the people of Ghana, and a new parliamentary resolution reinstating Afenyo-Markin to the ECOWAS delegation.
She also called for an end to what she described as coordinated political harassment of the Minority Leader by state agencies and NDC-affiliated groups, emphasising that those who threaten lawmakers, including NDC Vice-Chairman Chief Sofo Azorka, must face prosecution.
“The NPP and the Minority stand with Osahen Afenyo-Markin not merely out of political loyalty, but because the rule of law demands it.
“We will defend our leader, and we will defend Ghana’s democracy until accountability prevails.
